Method of forming containers



P 1936- B. o. TEMPLETON 2,055,135

METHOD OF FORMING CONTAINERS Filed Oct. 20, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l /-v/v70/? B. 0. TEMPL E TON ATTORNEY Sept. 22, 1936. Q TEMPLETON 2,055,185

METHOD OF FORMING CONTAINERS Filed Oct. 20, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR B. 0. TEMPLETON ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 22, 1936 METHOD OFFORMING CONTAINERS Bryce 0. Templeton, Queens Village, N. Y., assignorto Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application October 20, 1934, Serial No. 749,157

3 Claims. (Cl. 29-1483) This invention relates to containers andparticularly to methods of forming them.

One of the major problems encountered in connection with theconstruction of coin collec- 5 tors for telephone use is that ofproviding a housing to contain the device, and particularly that part ofthe device in which coins are flnally deposited, of suiiicientmechanical strength to prevent an unauthorized opening of the device bymechanically prying apart or breaking the portions of the housing. Itis, of course, possible to make portions of any desired thickness bymaking them of cast metal, but this method is objectionable in that inorder to get the desired thickness at particular portions, it isnecessary to make the whole device too heavy for easy portability andalso it is difllcult to get the resistance to drills and otherinstruments, which is inherent in some of the sheet steels. It has alsobeen proposed to make these housings of sheet metal and thus obtain theadvantage of a strength and resistance to tampering which is inherent inthe sheet steels, but in previous attempts to make housings in thismanner the completed housing was of substantially the same thicknessthroughout, and in order to get increased strength at vital points, suchas corners, it has been necessary to add inserts thereat. -usually bywelding.

A typical sheet metal box formed in this general manner is shown in U.S. Patent No. 1,161,396 issued to G. A. Long on November 23, 1915. Itwill be seen that a flange is turned up on the edge of a blank and thattriangular portions are cut out of the flange so that when it is bent upin the form shown, for example, in Fig. 11, the edges abut and can bewelded. It is a purpose of the present invention to utilize the metalwhich is normally cut out and discarded, in making a structure such asshown in the Long patent, to actually form portions of increasedthickness at the corners and to thus avoid the ners, is forged or shapedinto a reinforce at the point of increased thickness to reinforce thede- 5 vice.

In the drawings which accompany this specification and form a partthereof Fig. 1 shows a blank piece of sheet steel or; other malleablemetal from which a container 10 is formed;

Fig. 2 shows the blank after it has undergone the first formingoperation;

Fig. 3 shows the blank being bent into U- shape; 15 Fig. 4 shows theblank completely formed; and Fig. 5 shows the formed blank united with afront section to complete a lower housing for a coin collector of atelephone pay station.

The blank of Fig. 1 may be a rectangular piece 20 of malleable steel Inof suflicient length and width to form the rear section of the housingof a coin collector. For the flrst operation the blank is placed betweenthe dies of a press to form the rear flange II. This operation may be 25conducted with the material cold. The second operation comprises bendingup the end sections to form the sides of the housing. Prior to thisoperation the metal is heated, particularly at the prospective bends,and when suiliciently hot, the metal is placed between the dies of adrop forge. The dies are shaped to work the excess metal at the insideof the bend of the flange toward the outer corner to form a thickenedportion thereat. None of the metal is cut out or otherwise separatedfrom the flange and hence this method of forming the thickened cornersis highly eflicient. A comer in the process of formation is shown at l2,Fig. 3. The sides may be bent first and the corners shaped later, or 40the two operations may be combined into one.

A finished corner is shown in Fig. 4. Similar comers l3 are formed atthe top by bending the ends ll of the walls inward to close partly thetop of the housing. When the corners are completely formed, they aredrilled as at l5 to receive the bolts or screws by which the housing issupported. A front section l6 may likewise be formed of steel or othermalleable metal by the drop forge process and provided with a re- 50cessed flange II to flt on the inside oi'the rear section, so that theforward edge ID of the rear section abuts shoulder IQ of the frontsection and can be welded thereto.

The completed lower housing is shown in Fig. 5. The only Joint in thehousing is the one between the two sections, and that, if properlywelded, is closed so as to present no cracks on the outside into which aflat instrument can be inserted to pry the sections apart. There arelikewise'no cracks in the corners such as are found in the sheet metaltype of housing in which the flange is notched prior to bending and areinforcing piece of metal is spot welded across the abutting edges 01"the notch. The housing is. therefore, much stronger than the sheet metaltype and harder to break into. i

It is understood that the method of forming reinforced corners in flangematerial is not limited in its application to the housing shown, andthat the scope of the invention, therefore, should not be determined bythe above illustrative example, but by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. The steps in the method of forming a housing for a coin collectorwhich consists in bending a flange on a blank of sheet metal and'bendinga portion of the flanged blank at right angles to the rest of theportion and simultaneously working the metal in the flange at the pointof bending to form therein a thickened reinforcing portion.

2. The steps in the method of forming a housing for a coin collectorwhich consist in bending a flange in its own plane and forcing theexcess metal at the inside of the bend toward the center of the flangeand shaping it into a boss.

3. The steps in the method of forming a burglar-proof container whichconsists in bending a flange on a blank of malleable metal, heating theblank to render it readily workable, bending the blank into a sharpangle and workinto a boss by means of dies.

BRYCE O. TEMPLETON.

